Canberra - Four runaway children, including a 10-year-old girl,
went on an epic 1 000-kilometre road trip in a stolen car across
Australia before police intervened, officials said Monday.
The children reportedly left on Saturday along with cash, as well
as fishing rods, in a four-wheel drive, belonging to one of their
fathers in an elaborate plot to run away from home in Rockhampton in
central Queensland.
The four kids - the girl, a 14-year-old boy and two others aged 13 -
were nabbed by police in Grafton in the neighbouring state of New
South Wales, more than 1,000 kilometres south of where they left, on
Sunday night.
"It is a long way... so I couldn't imagine one person driving all
that way," Acting Inspector Darren Williams told reporters in Coffs
Harbour on Monday.
The minimum age to apply for a driving license in Queensland is 17.
Police said one of the kids had left a goodbye note for their family.
The kids are suspected of failing to pay for petrol at two stations.
Their vehicle was spotted in Glen Innes, 160 kilometres west of
Grafton, but police had to terminate the pursuit "because of the age
of the driver and the road conditions," according to Williams.
The kids and their vehicle were located later in Grafton. Police had
to forcefully open the doors because the children had locked
themselves insid, Williams said, but they were not harmed.
It is likely charges will be laid, but police have not yet had the
chance to interview the children, which can be done only in the
presence of their parents.